September 23, 2009

The response to DriveWorks Solo has been fantastic. Thanks for those that have downloaded the trial version and given us such good feedback.

DriveWorks Solo sits between DriveWorksXpress (included in every seat of SolidWorks) and the full DriveWorks suite of products, but also has some great functionality including the ability to preview your designs, make changes, and preview again before finalizing.

DriveWorks Solo runs fully inside SolidWorks and is the latest in Design Automation technology. If you log on to the DriveWorks Solo web site, you will have free access to video training as well as the ability to download the training manual and files.

We have also created a whole set of "How To" videos to ensure that you can become proficient in an hour, and an expert in a day.

DriveWorks Solo also ships with pre-created content, so that you can configure new designs from the moment it is installed. Watch these videos to see this in action

September 15, 2009

I have a terrible memory. I can't remember my lunch, never mind what I have done for the last year and (almost) a half. I remember that I have been busy, and that I had to get a new passport because the last one was full. Other than that - complete blank.

Quick update on the mouse. I still have the same one. It has out lived my old laptop. It's approaching its second birthday, I'm thinking of throwing a party.

Quick "Hi" to my sister, Karen. I think she is the only person to read my blogs. At least she is the only one to say "You haven't blogged for a while". Hi Sis. Love you.

Tomorrow is very important. I'll let you know how its gone after its gone. Tomorrow sees us release a brand new product.

April 10, 2008

It’s not moving on its own or anything like that, and I haven't given it a name.I just find it fascinating.

It cost me $10 from Dell.It has two buttons and a wheel, a bright red light underneath and a long tail.

It’s travelled over 100,000 miles with me and seen some sights.

It’s quite ordinary really.Very functional, a bit scratched, and because of the number of times it goes in and out of my laptop bag, will probably only be with me for another 6 months before I have to bury it in the garden with all the ones that came before it.

But what did my mouse cost to design?Probably tens of thousands of dollars, if not hundreds.

But mine has way less than 1% of its $10 ticket attributable to the fine art of design.

I then started to think about the brilliant engineers around the world that design custom products.What percentage of their products’ cost is the design element?

Bear in mind here, that for every product they design, they probably only sell 10% of them (They often have to design some or all of their offering during the quotation process)

So they have to design 10 products to sell 1.

They also have a pile of documentation to create too. Quotations, Bills of Materials, Cutting Lists, DXF etc.Every one of them is different for every customer.

How much of their products’ cost can be attributed to design?

I asked a few people.

It can be as high as 50%

That’s huge, and I didn't believe it.

I then spoke with one of our customers who, through using DriveWorks to automate the design of one of their products are now selling it at less than half the price that they used to.

They have taken their market by storm.

Now that IS huge.

For companies like them, cost savings in manufacturing, though important, pale into insignificance when compared with the saving gained by eliminating design costs through automation.

So bring on a world where the design cost of a custom product is way less than 1% of the overall costs.

September 21, 2007

I’ve just spent a week in New Zealand which started with a visit to the InterCAD office in Auckland.

Steve has a great team including Rida, this quarter’s winner of the DriveWorks Applications Engineer award.

Rida has done some fantastic work with DriveWorks and really enhanced the work that DriveWorks customers throughout Australasia have been doing through training and support.

Rida is one of those special engineers that not only explains feature and function well, but also has the ability to understand the best way they can be used in different situations.

On Tuesday morning (Very Very Early) I flew to Wellington at the south of the north island. I met Sales machine Ben at the airport and spent the rest of the week with him both in Wellington and then in Christchurch.

They say that you are always 6 degrees of separation from anyone else in the world.

In New Zealand, its 2.

Ben does a fantastic job of building on relationship after relationship in his sales activities and truly understands the concept of quality service and going that extra mile.

It’s been a pleasure spending these 4 days with him visiting many many customers and prospects.

September 16, 2007

Early start this morning (Thanks Matt!!!) to set up for a DriveWorks seminar at a Toyota 4x4 Dealership.

What an excellent venue, with a showroom full of 4x4’s complete with a whole array of SolidWorks designed optional extras.

This time my presentation was videoed. Lets hope it doesn’t find it’s was onto YouTube. I get excited when talking about DriveWorks and often wander away from the main presentation to talk War Stories.

I’m not sure I’ll be able to get one of the new 4x4’s home in my suitcase. Shame.

The afternoon has been filled with another great customer visit. They were the first DriveWorks customer in Australia and are getting on great. They have chosen the right path, to automate their designs product by product, getting DriveWorks into production very quickly and then adding more and more products as time goes on.The last activity of the day was a prospect presentation for a company whose products are ideally suited to DriveWorks.

It wrapped up a fantastic week. Thanks again to all of the guys at InterCAD.

I get a day off tomorrow in Brisbane (I can think of worst places to be) and then off to New Zealand on Sunday.

September 13, 2007

I visited one of our newest customers today on the outskirts of Sydney (To Be fair - I think it was on the outskirts of Sydney, but actually I have no idea. Alan (Sticky) Wicket was driving that leg of the trip and we could have been anywhere)

This is a customer that have had a DriveWorks training course and then just got on with it themselves. And boy have they got on with it.

Stunning results.

Before that I visited a DriveWorks prospect with Julian Spencer (InterCAD Sales supremo).

Julian couldn't have found a more perfect fit for DriveWorks technology. It was a joy to be there.

September 12, 2007

I've just spent the day traveling round Adelaide in Southern Australia with Guy Wallis from Intercad.

Guy is a great guy, and had lined up a DriveWorks prospect and an existing DriveWorks customer. The prospect was new to SolidWorks so the visit was about showing them DriveWorksXpress and how it can impact their design times.

It was such a joy to see their reaction. As ever, they are run off their feet in the design department creating both sales and production information. Everything they do is based on a theme. Their products were perfect for DriveWorks.

This afternoon, we visited Steinhoff an existing DriveWorks customer who recently won a Technology Application Award for their use of DriveWorks. Again it was a pleasure seeing others demonstrate their passion for DriveWorks within their business.

September 11, 2007

Congratulations to InterCAD for hosting a very professionally organised and well attended event.

It marked the start of my annual tour of Australia and New Zealand taking in Melbourne, Adelaide, Sydney, Brisbane, Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch, with some 56 hours of flying time in total on 13 flights.

Australia is becoming a good market for DriveWorks, and it’s a pleasure spending time with InterCAD staff, prospects and customers. InterCAD MD Scott Frayne seems equally as excited about the future of DriveWorks in Australia and New Zealand in his recent article in Manufacturer's Monthly.

Today I visited an existing DriveWorks customer who designs Truck and Trailer bodies and chassis. I was stunned at the progress that one of their senior engineers has made with DriveWorks in a very short space of time. I was impressed that one individual can make such a dramatic difference to the way a company can design and manufacture their products and it reminded me that the best results a company can achieve will only be realised if they are truly committed and focused to improving productivity through design automation.

I look forward to revisiting them in the future to see just what a difference it has made.